Japan's food consumption tax cut unlikely to ease household burden as prices surge

Japan's newly approved plan to cut the consumption tax on food has been met with skepticism, as households continue to feel the pinch of rising living costs and experts have voiced concerns about its effectiveness.

The plan was approved by the Cabinet on August 5 to lower the tax rate on food and beverages from the current 8 percent to 1 percent starting next April.

In their campaign for the House of Representatives election in February, the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Japan Innovation Party, pledged to eliminate the consumption tax on food and beverages altogether for two years to help households counter inflation.

At a local market in Tokyo, several residents complained about soaring prices in recent months and shared their views on the new policy.

"I do feel the prices for some products and meat have gone up. You get less for a higher price. [As for the tax cuts], I haven't seen any effect," said a resident.

"When I go shopping, everything feels more expensive. Things have gotten more expensive. I think prices have risen this high because the Japanese government has done nothing. Lowering the rate to just 1 percent -- even if only for two years -- wouldn't make much of a difference, so I'd rather they didn't do it at all," said another resident.

Experts have pointed out that cutting the consumption tax may not effectively alleviate the financial burden on households.

"The policy was driven by Japanese politicians. As for whether it will actually work, it is still too early to tell. Personally, I have doubts on its effects. Some politicians are calling for a tax cut because the public, after two hikes, still resents the consumption tax deeply. By doing so, they are simply bowing to public opinion. So I am concerned that the tax cut will have only a temporary effect just like the currency intervention, and the benefits will not last long," said Hideo Kumano, head economist at the ABC Economic Research Institute.

The consumption tax has long served as an important funding source supporting Japan's social security systems, including pensions and medical care. How to fill the massive fiscal gap created by the tax cut has become a major concern.

"The consumption tax was introduced to provide fiscal resources for future social security, to sustain a rapidly aging society, and to distribute funds to local governments. That is the purpose of the tax. But if this fiscal revenue decreases without a clear alternative funding plan, once the tax is reduced, the tax revenue would fall, and the reduced part will be filled from other sources. However, there is no such a clear alternative funding plan coming out. Takaichi has long stressed to implement a 'responsible fiscal policy,' but in fact, this is an utterly irresponsible fiscal policy," said Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor of political science at Hosei University in Tokyo.

Japan's food consumption tax cut unlikely to ease household burden as prices surge

Thailand's rural tradition of elephant stewardship is rapidly vanishing as livelihoods change and younger people pursue opportunities elsewhere, threatening centuries of irreplaceable elephant-care knowledge.

For generations, mahouts in the region have passed on their tradition of closely bonding with the elephants they care for. Taweesuk Lapsan is one of a dwindling number of mahouts who diligently carry on the practice.

Long before the sun rises over the fields, he was already at work, gathering bundles of food for an animal that had been part of his family for generations.

"We've had elephants since our grandparents' and great-grandparents' generations. We've been around elephants our whole lives, so we have a strong connection and experience in raising them. That's how we've been able to live with them like this," the mahout said.

Caring for his elephant was not merely a job, but an inherited way of life. Years of daily coexistence forged an intimate bond defined by an intuitive understanding of subtle movements, sounds, and hesitations that take a lifetime to master.

"We live together like this. It's like a family. We're like family; we always go through things together. Until we breathe our last, it just depends on who lives longer," said Taweesuk.

Mahouts and elephants have been woven into parts of Thailand's cultural landscape, from rural livelihoods and traditional practices. However, the tradition has been upended by the collapse of the commercial logging industry and the rapid expansion of tourism.

As fewer young people follow in their families' footsteps, conservationists warned that an intricate system of animal care, refined over centuries, faces gradual extinction.

"When a mahout disappears, they are replaced by people who simply come in to take care of the elephants, essentially, elephant keepers. There are differences in terms of the bond between the keeper and the elephant, the cultural aspects, and the passing down of knowledge and traditions from one generation to the next. So we are concerned about the quality," said Parntep Ratanakorn, Secretary General of the Asian Elephant Foundation of Thailand.

Taweesuk said that his daughters may choose paths far removed from the stables, a decision he fully respects. As the practice fades, experts warn the loss extends far beyond a vanishing cultural heritage, threatening the daily welfare safety nets upon which captive elephants rely.

Thailand's centuries-old elephant care tradition face extinction as livelihoods change